


Searching

by marikunin



Series: Sehnsucht [5]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Real Person Fiction
Genre: Alternate Universe - Avatar & Benders Setting, Canon Autistic Character, Canon Character of Color, Canon Disabled Character, Modern Era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-01
Updated: 2017-01-01
Packaged: 2018-09-14 00:45:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9149176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marikunin/pseuds/marikunin
Summary: Avatar Enkhtuya's death is a tragedy the world wasn't expecting.





	

Avatar Enkhtuya’s death is a tragedy that the world wasn’t expecting.

She had only mastered the Avatar State a few weeks-weeks!-before her death. The Mongolian woman raised among yaks was only 28, and had just been Announced to the world. The people were happy to learn of Avatar Deepak’s successor and what with the Cold War still being several years from its end, the world needed their Avatar more than ever.

Order of the White Lotus member Hugh Listenberg had been in his backyard, playing some football with his two sons when he heard the news. His wife had been listening to the television as she made some lunch for herself and her family. Hugh had jumped when Julia shoved the backdoor open and screamed “The Avatar’s DEAD!”

Hugh and his boys, Grant and Jacob, had ran inside. The photos of a horrific car accident had graced their screen, the news anchor going on about how all five people in the vehicle-the Avatar, her partner/girlfriend, two bodyguards, and a White Lotus member-had been killed almost instantaneously. The accident had occurred in Rwanda, as the Avatar was making a trip to talk with some diplomats about ending the violence there.

Of course, Avatar Enkhtuya hadn’t made it to her destination.

The Cold War didn’t end till 1991. The Rwandan genocide, as it came to be called, didn’t end until 1994. The White Lotus, once again, had to search for the Avatar even though they did so less than 3 decades prior.

Avatar Deepak had died choking on a piece of meat. Avatar Amparo had died from being poisoned during a peace summit by some anarchists. Avatar Tsunako had died due to a freak carriage accident one winter day. Avatar Ahurewa had been the last Avatar to live past their 50s, and pretty much everyone agreed that the Maori man had been unable to enact great change due to being found when he’d already passed the age of 57. It was why the Order of the White Lotus had formed the searching system in the first place.

For centuries-indeed, for millennia-finding an Avatar was mostly up to chance. Though some Avatars revealed themselves, such as Buddha, Jeanne d'Arc, and the prophet Mohammed, most never learned of their true identity. If they didn’t get killed early on due to disease (Avatar Claira) or war (Avatar Akmal), then they’d likely be outcasts.

Finally, Avatar Ahurewa gathered the leaders of the White Lotus at the time to his deathbed, and asked them to find his successor. To continue to find his successors, for as long as there was an Avatar to be found. He’d helped them come up with a basic way of searching limited by the technology of the day. Despite its rocky beginnings, the Order managed to find Tsunako in Kyoto, Japan at the age of 23.

As the centuries passed, the Order’s methods of finding the latest incarnation of the world grew more accurate. Each Avatar in turn helped refine the system, lasting for nearly an entire Cycle in and of itself. It was pretty much set in stone when they went to find Avatar Deepak’s reincarnation.

They would set up in each major town, and stay for several weeks. People from miles around would bring all their children under a certain age (1 month past the Avatar’s death was the limit, but it didn’t stop parents from bringing toddlers along) to be checked. The infant would be placed among several items of varying conditions. Among them would be toys belonging to past Avatars; finding said items had been quite an ordeal in and of itself to attain, as any White Lotus member will tell you. If the child picked the toys belonging to past Avatars, they were the current one.

This method, surprisingly, worked rather well. Scholars of the Avatar Cycle and history speculated that the spirit of the Avatar gravitated towards the familiar. Then upon finishing seeing everyone and secretly figuring out who was the Avatar (assuming the infant Avatar was in that town), they’d pack up and wait for 16 years to reveal their identity to said teenager and their family.

Avatars Amparo, Deepak and Enkhtuya had been found using this method. In the wake of Avatar Enkhtuya’s death, however, things had been rough. In her few short weeks of being in the public eye, Enkhtuya had made herself a beloved figure to the world. Her friendly face and sense of humor had endeared both the famous and the common, and in the fall of 1989, the whole planet seemed to mourn.

Therefore, it was rather obvious that the White Lotus were unable to test infants around the world per what had become the usual.

Instead, they waited. They waited for a decade and a half. The newest Avatar-a waterbender of either gender-would be 15 now. They set up the testing room in gymnasiums, community centers, in public squares and in secluded abbeys. Waterbending teens from all over the world were tested. It was during one of these tests that Hugh Listenberg saw the new Avatar for the first time.

It had been in Long Island, New York, at a suburban high school. Hugh had been sitting at a plastic fold out table with some papers in front of him (a rough outline of how many students he could expect), the latest paperback novel that everyone was talking about, and his only constant company being that of his coworker and fellow Lotus member Paula. Said woman was in her mid 70s to Hugh’s 52, and was rather serious. Hugh had heard she had been particularly close to Avatar Enkhtuya as a mentor while the girl had trained in the elements, and had been hit quite hard when the girl died.

Hugh supposed her grief was only made worse when recent investigations by several international police forces made it known that Avatar Enkhtuya’s death had not been an accident at all. Paula apparently hadn’t been the same since. Not that Hugh knew. He’d only met the woman a few months prior, when their search had begun.

Scanning the paper again, Hugh read off the next name on the list.

“Mary Morken?”

“I’m here!”

Her hair had been…rather messy. She had on a baggy t-shirt and sweatpants, and had an almost comically large backpack on her back and a folder full of paper in her arms.

According to their intelligence, Ms. Morken (and her sororal twin Sheila, who would be tested after her) was biracial with a white father and a (deceased) black mother. She had her sister, an older brother, and a young girl under the legal guardianship of her father at the house with her, along with several pets.

“Um,” Mary said, her voice coming out much more hoarse than either Hugh or Paula expected, “Here.”

She slid over the small questionnaire that had been handed to everyone being tested over to Paula. It was one of those tests that couldn’t be cheated on; everything was either straight forward questions (Do you get tired performing strong bending moves?) or things that only Avatar Enkhtuya would know (Such as questions about the lives of past Avatars). As Paula scanned the paper, Hugh smiled kindly at the girl.

She did smell like a teenager who did a lot of exercise, but her face was cute and she had gushed upon seeing that Paula had a service dog (who was currently asleep underneath the desk).

“So I just pick whatever I want, right?”

“Mhm. You don’t get to keep anything of course. Just pick up what comes to mind, as many as you like.”

“Okay…”

In this batch of items, there were nearly 40 “dummy” items and 2 Avatar relics. They were a scarf that previously belonged to Avatar Menucha, and a children’s picture book owned by Avatar Amparo. Other Avatar relics-there were a grand total of 93 in all recovered by the White Lotus-were scattered across the world in other testing locations such as this. Nearly 4 months had gone by and the Avatar hadn’t been found.

Of course, even if the Avatar was found, the testing couldn’t just stop. Such an irregular action by the Order would basically create a huge sign saying “Hey, the Avatar is in this town! Get them while they’re young and untrained!” Avatar Enkhtuya had been fully trained, but the Avatar State was still elusive at times. And even that couldn’t save a human from a lethal car collision.

Hugh glanced over at Paula, who was adjusting her glasses on her wrinkled face. She was carefully reading the questionnaire, totally focused on her work. Hugh turned back to watch the latest waterbender go through the items, expecting them to choose something bright and luxurious looking like everyone else did.

“I’m done.”

Hugh looked up, as did Paula.

Mary held the book and the scarf in her hands, looking rather…embarassed?

“These were the ones that stood out to me, so…”

She shrugged, and glanced surreptitiously at her shirt. She shrugged her shoulders a little, and Hugh wondered if she knew that she…had an odor. He wondered why a girl as pretty as her dressed the way she did, or-

That was when Hugh saw the items in her small hands. Only his training at the Order of the White Lotus headquarters kept him from reacting. Paula was just as smooth-faced as he was, something that surprised Hugh considering her friendship with the previous Avatar. Maybe she was just used to it because of experience.

“Thank you Ms. Morken,” Paula said, taking the items gently from the teenager, “You may go now.”

“Okay.”

The girl very rapidly speed walked to her bag, slung the massive thing onto her tiny frame, picked up her folder of papers, and shuffled out. As soon as the auditorium door shut behind her Hugh and Paula looked at each other.

“She picked the relics.”

“I know. She got everything right on the questionnaire.”

“It seems we’ve found the new Avatar.”

Paula dabbed at her eyes with a tissue.

“Yes. Well, we can’t let on that we did. She has to be kept safe. Next one is her sister, yes?”

“Yeah.”

A few months later, after the testing had been completed and Mary’s nature told to the Grand Lotus and the inner circle of White Lotus members, Hugh drove to a nice two-story house just a few minutes away from the same high school he’d found Mary at. Paula had passed only two weeks before, saying that she’d been waiting for Avatar Enkhtuya to show herself again. Now that she knew the latest Avatar would be kept as safe as the Order could make her, she could move on.

Hugh had given her eulogy.

There were some balloons tied to the mailbox, one reading Happy 16th birthday in bright colorful letters. There was only one car in the driveway, and the sun was starting to set. Two terriers barked at him from a fence separating the backyard from the front. With him was the Grand Lotus, a descendant of Avatar Deepak and an accomplished firebender herself. Priya-named after her great-grandmother-was dressed in plain attire, with only a white lotus pin on her blouse.

Across the street, a car with some of the best warriors the Order had to offer waited, watching for any sign of trouble. Hugh swallowed, realizing just what was going to happen. When Enkhtuya found out of her status as the Avatar, he’d heard, the teenager had fainted on the spot. Avatar Deepak had laughed, and Avatar Amparo had thought he was still asleep and simply dreaming.

Dusting his hand against his slacks, Hugh went to ring the doorbell-

“Hey, doggy,” Priya said, looking near Hugh’s feet, “How did you get out here? Naughty boy!”

One of the terriers had somehow gotten out. He was sniffing both of them, tail wagging a little when Priya scratched behind his ears.

“At least now we have an excuse to ring the doorbell,” Hugh joked.

The animal somehow breaking the tension, Hugh rang the doorbell.

To their right, they saw the curtains being adjusted and a younger face looking out. That must be the girl that Mary’s father has guardianship of, Hugh had thought. The little girl-she seemed to be around 6 or 7-opened the door. Her shirt said BEST FIREBENDER EVER and had a little cartoon flame in a confident pose. She took one look at them and then rolled her eyes when she saw the dog.

“Murphy,” she sighed, “Get in here.”

Murphy just wagged his tail and walked inside as if this was a routine event. The girl-Cheyenne, if Hugh remembered correctly-went to shut the door.

“Wait,” Priya said, holding up a hand, “Could we please come in? We have something important to discuss with your…er, father?”

“With Dad?”

Cheyenne scrunched up her face but then shrugged.

“Whatever. Daaaaaaaad!”

Hugh wondered if everyone in this family-biological or adopted or whatever-were good looking. From the pictures on the wall, they probably were. Mary’s father John was a handsome man in his 50s, but he looked like he was in his early 40s. He was in casual clothes, likely from the girls sweet sixteen party earlier that day.

Of course, the only reason why Hugh knew this was because there were still some party supplies left in the backyard when they drove up. He saw two teenage girls picking up the last of some chairs and taking them away.

One had been the Avatar.

“May I help you?”

“Yes, my name is Priya Gokhale, and I’m from the Order of the White Lotus. I was wondering if I could speak to you about one of your daughters?”

“My daughters? But-why-”

Hugh saw the puzzle pieces come together and watched as Mr. Morken’s face paled. He took his cue from Priya and patiently waited for the man to calm himself. That didn’t take too long, though, as the man had on a much more serious expression than moments before.

“Of course. I knew this day would come.”

“Knew?”

"Yes. I...I'll explain when we all get together."

“…I see.”

“It would be best if we all sat down,” Priya said calmly, her voice steady despite her being nearly 90, “If that is fine…?”

“Yes,” Mr. Morken said, “Of course. Does anyone want anything to drink?”

After Priya got a glass of water and Hugh some orange juice, they had to wait for Mary to use the bathroom. You could cut the tension in the room with a plastic butter knife.

“Those are lovely plaques,” Priya had said, breaking the ice as she pointed to the painted works of art on the wall, “Did you make those?”

“Oh no,” Mr. Morken said, relaxing automatically, “My grandfather, actually. I got the molds some time ago, and I paint them…”

While Priya and Mr. Morken-John, Hugh learned-made small talk, Hugh glanced around. Shorty was still licking the living room carpet, though Hugh had no idea why. Murphy was scratching himself. He saw a canary eating some bird food in a cage in the kitchen. He also saw that the family had a fish tank in their “piano” room. The fish were very relaxing to watch. He-

“I’m here.”

By now, Cheyenne and Mary’s sororal twin Sheila had joined them. Sheila had just washed her hands upstairs and Cheyenne was playing with an old Gameboy Advance. Once everyone sat down, Hugh wondered how to start things. He suppose he could ease into it, right? Maybe start with some-

“Mary,” Priya said, “You’re the new Avatar.”  
  
Mary said nothing, sipping her apple juice. Cheyenne’s mouth formed a large “o”, while Sheila gasped loudly. John was still serious. Not that Hugh could blame him.

“Whaaaattt,” Sheila said, “Are you sure?”

Cheyenne still had her mouth hanging wide open.

“Yes,” Priya said kindly, “We are quite sure. Out of almost a billion people, only your sister picked out the Avatar relics during our tests.”

“Holy crap,” Sheila breathed, and Hugh noticed for the first time that she and her twin appeared quite differently. Sheila was lighter skinned, and dressed…well, frankly, nicer than Mary did and didn’t smell like she did. Mary was gulping her apple juice like it was alcohol, the glass being emptied in seconds.

“Oh, darn, I’m out of juice,” Mary said, hands shaking, “I’ll just get myself another g-”

She stopped when Priya put a hand over her’s. Aside from the wrinkles on Priya’s hands, they were similar in size and only a few tones of brown apart.

“You said something about knowing this day would , Mr. Morken,” Hugo said, "Care to explain?"

"Yes. When Mary was around eight, she told her mother and I about a dream she had. She even drew pictures. The dream was in such detail and...well, Mary, can you get the pictures?"

"Uh huh."

The ponytailed girl went upstairs, while Sheila and Cheyenne looked confused.

"Wait," Cheyenne said incredulously, "You and Mary already knew?"

"And you didn't tell me?"

Sheila sounded offended.

"She was told not to tell you or your brother," John explained, "Since you two would have told everyone. You were only kids."

"That's true..."

Mary then came back down, carrying a worn but intact manila folder. Inside were several drawings in crayon. Priya took the folder and she and Hugo looked at the drawings,

"These are some of the same spirits my great grandfather wrote about," Priya said, face expressing concern, “And this is a spitting image of Avatar Enkhtuya, though simplistic. I’m sure you all know how most Avatars have gone, said woman being the latest one. We have to find the successor and since the circumstances around Enkhtuya’s death sent everyone reeling, it took us sometime to get organized to look for her successor.”

“And…you found Mary.”

“We found Mary.”

Cheyenne had closed her mouth, but was now looking at the girl in question as if she’d grown a second head and multiple limbs. Sheila had quite a similar expression, but the girls’ father…was he crying?

“The Bible,” he began, “says that the Avatar is a prophet sent from God. Once, the Avatar was even-is even, really, if you think about it-our Lord and Savior Himself. She's just the latest in a long line of prophets...”

The man sniffed, and took out a handkerchief.

“Well, from your religion’s standpoint…yes. She is. The Avatar, I mean. Forgive me; I was raised as a Hindu, so I had to learn about other religions such as Christianity as an adult. But I told Avatar Enkhtuya of her identity. Never did I thought I’d live long enough to tell her successor the same.”

“No one thought she’d be killed the way she was,” John said, a dark look settling across his face. Hugh and Priya went quiet. For anyone under 20, Avatar Enkhtuya’s death was just another fact in history. For anyone over 20, though, it was a event among the likes of the JFK assassination or the moon landing.

“No,” Priya said sadly, “No one did. Unfortunately, we only just learned that her death was orchestrated by several terrorist groups. The only reason the case was declared an accident back in 1989 was because we simply didn’t have the technology to find out who had done it.”

John was already looking at Mary with great fear-not of her, Hugh knew, but for her. The Avatar more often than not died before their time, and seeing as the family was clearly Christian…

“Mr. Morken,” Hugh suddenly found himself saying, “Priya, myself, and the rest of the Order of the White Lotus swear we will do everything in our power to keep your daughter safe. Technology has come a long way since 1989, and we’ve devised a new method of training the Avatar since the previous one’s death.”

“Really? How was the Avatar trained before?”

“Well, Avatar Amparo, Deepak, and Enkhtuya were shuttled from country to country. One country for each element they had to learn, then the Avatar State, before having the opportunity to return to their homeland. Now we know that this likely lead to Avatars Amparo and Enkhtuya being assassinated. We…unfortunately, had some turncoats on the inside of the Order itself,” Priya explained, “Though we’ve long since rooted them out and taken them into custody. What we wish to do with Mary, however, is change as little of her life as possible.”

Mary was staring at her empty cup, Hugh noted, though he had a feeling she was hanging onto every word. He wondered how often she dreamt of her predecessors.

“She’ll take private lessons,” Priya continued, “At a local, Order-certified bending school. We compiled a list of nearby earthbending schools, actually.”

She pulled out a printed sheet of paper from a folder she’d been carrying and handed it to John.

“All of them are exemplary teachers, are dedicated to keeping the Avatar safe, and would do anything to protect her should the need arise.”

“Would we be able to visit these schools?”

“Of course! In fact, we were hoping that we could show you first thing in the morning. Since it’ll be a Sunday she won’t miss any school, and lessons could start as soon as Monday afternoons.”

Priya looked at Mary’s face and seemed to see the effects of this taking its toll on her.

“Although,” she said quickly, “We’ve given a full leniency period of 3 months for Mary to get used to the idea. I tried to make the leniency period longer, but the council overruled me, I’m afraid.”

Hugh decided to make himself useful and took out his own folder of information. There were several brochures. 'So You Found Out Your Sibling is the Avatar' he handed copies both to Cheyenne and Sheila, while 'Your Child is the New Avatar. What Now?' went to John. An entire book was given to Mary, compiled writings from past Avatars, Order members, and various lay people on advice they would give to a new Avatar. The front said that the newest info was messages from various religious and political figures in the world, including the Dalai Lama, the current US President, and Priya herself.

Mary quietly clutched the book to her chest like a lifeline, and said nothing. John, Sheila, and Cheyenne continued to ask questions, enough for another 2 hours worth of discussion. After being told they would call them within the week about the lessons, Hugh and Priya left. The phone call would come about a week later, just before the school week started. Mary was still quiet when Hugh met with her one on one at the local Order chapter/community center.

“Um…Mr. Listenberg…? We picked a teacher…uh…well, I did, but my dad and sisters helped…”

She showed Hugh the paper-the teacher was a woman, only a few minutes away by car-and clutched the book he’d given her. He saw that several pages had been dog eared.

“Are you sure you want to start training this early,” Hugh asked, “You still have a good 2 months and 3 weeks left to adjust.”

“I’m…I’m sure. I prayed about it and…yeah. I’m sure.”

“Alright. I’m proud to help you start your training, Mary, and I hope this is only the start of a long and happy journey for you.”

“…thanks…”

Hugh was a bit worried for a few days, but when Mary showed up to be driven to her first earthbending lesson he relaxed. The teen seemed much more open than before, and was even a bit cheerful. Then again, her father had just promised to get her a puppy by Christmas.

“And he’s gonna be a Portugese Water Dog, and I’m gonna name him something cool! Like Licorice, since he’ll be black, and ooooh, I’m so excited! I love puppies!”

Her enthusiasm had Hugh smiling all the way to the school. Suddenly he felt like Mary-Avatar Mary-would do just fine.


End file.
